The Night I Left And Never Came Back

Synopsis

On my eighteenth birthday blowout, my two brothers showed up with a seven-year-old orphan girl. My big bro Tristan Shelton hauled off and smacked me right in the face over her. Freddie, my other brother, lost it. "Get the hell out and don't come back!" he yelled. I didn't say a peep. Just grabbed my bags and split. They probably thought I was just throwing a fit, that I'd slink back in a couple days. So they got their peace and took the kid on a dream trip to Shinegale to see the northern lights—the one place I'd always wanted to go. Weeks later, they came home and got the news: I'd signed up for a ten-year, locked-in medical research gig. I wasn't coming back. Ever. That night, they completely broke down.